


Linger

by Starlight_Wren



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Love, Oneshot, POV Katniss Everdeen, Sad, pre games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23402788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight_Wren/pseuds/Starlight_Wren
Summary: Before her second time in the Hunger Games, Katniss is feeling melancholy about her last night with Peeta. She wants to linger here with him.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Linger

**Author's Note:**

> I made Katniss more in love here than she was in the books. More desperate and sad. The things centered above each paragraph is a lyric from a kind of sad campfire song. I don't count it as a "songfic" because the song isn't really part of it. Apologies that this is so short-I didn't have anything else to add.
> 
> This is my second fic here and there’s going to be more to come!
> 
> Feel free to leave reviews!

I want to linger, a little longer

I want to linger here. Despite the fact that I despise the capitol with every fiber in my soul, I don’t want to leave. Not when my leaving means certain death. I savor my time here, eating every bite of every meal. Breathing every breath of fresh air. I learn to walk in high heels with Effie. Haymitch tries (and fails) to give me a new personality. I do the interviews, make jokes while I can. I go with it when Peeta says I’m pregnant. I do everything in my power to prevent myself from messing this up. 

But it’s all for him. 

A little longer here with you 

I realize what’s making me want to linger. It’s Peeta. Everything is so perfect between the two of us right now. Every day in the Capitol Peeta’s made me feel safe. He’s held me through my nightmares. Stood side by side with me in training. I don’t deserve him but I need him. It’s that same thing I felt that night in the first arena. Everything is so awful but he manages to make me feel safe. Cared for. 

It’s such a perfect night 

Here we lay on top of the Training Center. Peeta runs his fingers through my hair and I weave some flowers together. The sun is beginning to set. The smell of summer fills my nostrils. It smells like flowers and happiness. Feels like that kind of tired you get from being in the sun too long. I let myself soak up the feeling. Because I know that after this, my life will become hell. Don’t I deserve a little relaxation beforehand?

It doesn’t seem quite right 

This isn’t right. Peeta and I shouldn’t be the ones fighting. We were promised a life of wealth and glory. Not that I care about that, though. We should be mentoring a pair from District 12. Of course, that would be just as bad, if not worse. But then, at the very least, I wouldn’t have to leave him. I’m angry at the Capitol but I don’t dare to delve into that dreadful corner of my mind. I focus on here and now. 

That this should be my last with you

It smacks me right in the chest. These are my last moments with Peeta. Of course, I knew this before but it hits me harder than it had before. “Peeta?” I say, attempting to hide the panic in my voice. “Hm?” he responds. “Can we stay like this forever?” I ask. “Of course,” he sighs. And so we do. We linger in the peaceful sunset as long as we can. The calmness in the air is almost desperate. As if it’s attempting to fill in for the lifetime of peace we were supposed to have. I let the desperation fill my lungs. I lay here, letting myself think for just a moment that it’s true. That we can stay here forever. 

But, of course, in the true spirit of the games, we can’t.


End file.
